Bill Cosby performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Stephens Auditorium. / Special to the Register

Comedy XPeriment

Drew Carey takes the Hoyt Sherman stage Saturday. / Special to the Register

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After 11 years, you’d think Comedy XPeriment would have more to show for all their experimentation. They should prove some sort of if/then hypothesis about comedy improv.

If a sketch includes a muskrat, then it will be funny. And if the muskrat has a gluten allergy, then it’s hilarious.

See: You didn’t laugh, did you? That’s because there are still a lot of variables, which is just how Joseph Gentzler likes it. He’s the newest member of CXP’s six-member team.

“I love that it’s never the same twice,” he said. “I love performing scripted theater, but there’s something about stepping onto a stage and having no idea what kind of story you’re going to tell.”

The local troupe has been rehearsing every Thursday night for its season opener this weekend at the Stoner Theater. They do warm-ups. They play word games. They brush up their mime skills. And at the end of each experiment, they analyze their results.

“Some nights, if there’s a particular game or a particular format we want to try, we try to solidify the structure of it,” Gentzler said. “For us, a success is one where the structure stays intact. Did we have the same characters throughout? Did the infor­mation stay consistent?”

A failure, on the other hand, happens when somebody “gets out on stage and forgets where they are in the moment,” he said.

When they’re not on stage, the cast mates have regular jobs. One is a high school English teacher. A couple of others lead some sort of corporate training.

Gentzler is a risk analyst for Wells Fargo — and as far as risks go, he said CXP is a pretty safe bet.

“Just come out for a good time and relax,” he said. “You don’t know where it’s going, and we don’t where it’s going, either. But we’re going to have fun.”

More funny stuff

If improvisation isn’t your thing, head instead to the tried-and-true . . .

Bill Cosby, whose recent book “I Didn’t Ask to Be Born, But I’m Glad I Was” is a best seller, performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Stephens Auditorium in Ames. $39-$64. (It was almost sold out at press time.) www.center.iastate.edu